August 11, 2015 edition
August 2015 marks a milestone in Singapore's history: the island state turns 50. Big and small events will be held throughout the country as part of the jubilee. But this will be the very first time that Singapore celebrates its anniversary without its revered and influential founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. "Mr. Lee retired as Prime Minister in 1990. He has prepared well and Singapore is set to take further steps forward." said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in answer to Tempo's questions.
Prime Minister Lee, who is popularly known as BG (Brigadier-General) Lee, follows in the footsteps of his father Lee Kuan Yew, the nation's first president and his predecessor, Goh Chok Tong. "I'm a third generation leader," said Lee. He leads a small nation of just 5.5 million people yet with the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region and the top third in the worldover US$56,000. Given its sizesmaller than Jakartaits lack of natural resources and its young age, Singapore's story is a remarkable one.
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August 4, 2015 edition
It took a whole minute for Ananta Purba to remember whether his institution ever received donations or assistance from the North Sumatra provincial government. This deputy secretary-general of the Batak Protestant Christian Church (GBKP) executive committee only recalled two specific instances. In 2010, the GBKP received Rp20 million in assistance. Then, in 2012, their church at Tebing Tinggi received Rp175 million. "After that, there was no more assistance," said Ananta last week.
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July 28, 2015 edition
Located 2,500 meters above sea level, the mountainous Tolikara regency is nearly isolated from the outside world. It is not easy to reach this area. Traveling there by land, through the Wamena regency, takes seven hours over mostly damaged roads. The easiest way to reach these mountains is by aircraft. Yet, despite the remote mountainous location, the Tolikara youths are not alienated.
Each year, they travel to neighboring nations, such as Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Palau, and sometimes to Israel. These trips are facilitated by the Indonesian Evangelical Church (GIDI), in cooperation with their missionary counterparts in various countries. An agreement with Israel is clearly posted on its website. "Jesus and Israel cannot be forsaken. They are the chosen people of Allah," said former GIDI Youth Chairman, Wekis Wonda, last week.
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July 14, 2015 edition
AFTER his preoccupation with the controversy over the Javanese-intonation reading of the Qur'an, Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin now must focus his attention on the Nusantara Islam issue. This involves the debate of a genre of Islam that is unique to Indonesia, one that is being unofficially supported by the government.
The rejection by hard-line Islamists has not dampened the government's plan to keep pushing for a Nusantara (archipelagic) Islam. "They got it wrong. Nusantara Islam is not an ideology," said Lukman, in a special interview with Tempo reporters Sugiharto and Sunudyantoro, last week.
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July 10, 2015 edition
NOVEL Baswedan stood by his testimony at the Constitutional Court on May 25. Even though his superiors at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) contradicted him, Novel, a senior KPK investigator stressed there was recorded proof of intent to terrorize, intimidate, and threaten KPK leaders and employees last January to February. "My statements remain the same," said Novel, last week.
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July 7, 2015 edition
ON four separate occasions over the past month, Jasrul had heard disturbing reports. The TNI (Indonesian Military) retiree learned that the engine on the C-130 Hercules plane which his son flew on had often experienced engine failure. He heard this from Captain Riri Setiawan, Jasrul's son, a navigator on C-130 Hercules planes. Riri also informed his two younger siblings of the issue.
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June 30, 2015 edition